Optical systems have long been used for focusing, directing, and manipulating beams of light. Optical systems are used in many different areas of technology for a wide variety of purposes. Engineering and research areas are just a couple of examples of the wide field of use of current optical technologies. Often, engineers, researchers, or others, wish to split a beam of light into multiple beams of light. Beam splitter optical devices have been developed to accomplish this task. Beam splitter devices can split a beam of light into multiple beams of light in various ways. For example, a dichroic beam splitter can split a beam of light into multiple beams of light based on a wavelength of the light incident on the beam splitter. A polarizing beam splitter can split a beam of light into multiple beams of light based on polarization orientations of the beam of light. A neutral beam splitter can split a beam of light into multiple beams of light which are approximately equal in intensity and neutral in color (e.g., wavelength) or polarization. Other types of beam splitting devices also exist, such as matrix beam splitters, pellicle beam splitters, wire grid polarizing beam splitters, and so forth. Furthermore, such beam splitters can be fashioned in a variety of shapes, sizes, or forms, including plates, cubes, etc.
However, despite the capabilities and features of various existing beam splitter optical devices, such devices are often expensive, difficult to manufacture, difficult to assemble with a certain precision, and can be space-consuming either in terms of the size of the elements used or in terms of spacing between the different elements of the system or device. Some fields of research use microscopes and other optical systems to study cells, molecules, and other biological or chemical samples. In such fields of research, sophisticated microscope systems can occupy a significant portion of a small laboratory. Conventional beam splitting devices can be a contributing factor in floor space used by sophisticated microscopes involving beam splitting. Due to their size they are also vulnerable to vibrations, thermal drift and pollution.
Engineers, scientists, and others would be able to benefit greatly from a beam splitter apparatus which was able to overcome at least some of the deficiencies of prior systems and in particular be smaller or more compact than prior systems to preserve floor space while reducing some of the complexity in some prior systems.